Her flame wouldn't die
by Ranowa Hikura
Summary: Sequel to Running Away! Special guest stars: Alex Cabot and Major Case! Summary: Casey's past comes back to haunt her. Will she survive?
1. Chapter 1

Hey people! This is the sequel to Running Away, Her flame wouldn't die. I strongly recommend reading that one first, although, technically, everything from that should be summarized here as well. And this will be romantically EC (they're already dating), and Alex and Olivia are dating too. About that last pairing by the way- I never, and I mean NEVER write Cabenson stories, but the reason it took me so long to post this was because I got sick, and the day before I started throwing up I worked Cabenson into the story. So sorry if I fail with them completely. AUish as well- Alex is back (obviously), as DA or whatever she was on Conviction, and Casey's still SVU's ADA. And I'll bring Major Case (Alex Eames and Bobby) into this later, but didn't make it a crossover because it concentrates on SVU. And I have a question- with Huang, why didn't they just spell his name W-O-N-G? Seriously! I've never seen it spelled with an H before!

Summary: Time may not heal all wounds, but at least they scar... until something rips them open.

Warning: First chapter deals with alcoholism. May trigger.

Spoilers: None

Disclaimer: doink doink owns these guys, although this time I hired Alex AND Casey and sued for the rights... guess where it got me.

**Chapter 1**

**-The following takes place approximately one year after the events in Running Away-**

"Oh, hell yeah. We nailed his ass to the wall. I am going to have so much fun with this in court! Ha, I can just see the jury now."

Olivia laughed over the phone, and Casey could almost hear the detective rolling her eyes in amusement. "So can I. Counselor, if you can pull this side-show off in court and convince the brother about his sister, I'll owe you. Hell, if our whole plan actually works, it'll be a miracle!"

Casey nodded in agreement. Right now, she was prosecuting a case of abusive parents- the afore-mentioned sister being the mother. The brother was one of those people who you knew had done the crime but you just couldn't prove it- in this case, the crime was killing abusive parents. The sister was out on bail, and SVU was actually aiming for the brother on this one, so they and Casey had devised a plan- tomorrow, she was going to reveal their most damming piece of evidence- video of the sister beating her son- while the brother was in court. SVU would then tail the sister, wait for the brother to show up and get far enough into his MO to prove he had committed the previous murders, then come rushing in to rescue the abusive bitch. If they were lucky, Casey would somehow manage to get a conviction for both the sister and the brother, but the likelihood of this whole plan actually working was slim to none.

"If- and I mean _if-_ this succeeds... well, I better get a raise, because I hate being stuck in the courtroom while all the action happens, and you guys are buying me drinks. For a year."

Olivia chuckled again, and now Casey could hear the clinking of bottles in the background. She licked her lips, thirsting for alcohol as Olivia started bargaining with her. "Well, Case, if you're getting drinks for a year then we get at least _some _of the credit! Come on, promise you'll buy us all drinks once in a while, we deserve it!"

"Yeah, but I'd be buying for four! Five if Cragen came, although who knows what's up with him and his AA stuff nowadays. You guys would only be buying for one gal, although, between you and me, I could totally out drink every single one of you."

"Ooh, is that a challenge? Because that, I'd pay to see. And besides, you're a lawyer, we all know you get paid more than us lowly detectives. You can afford to buy 5 shots, can't you?"

Casey grinned, fingering her wallet and the thick wad of cash stuck inside, then pulling out her shiny Visa card and eyed it appreciatively. "If I'm buying for myself. Point taken, though. You've bought me drinks a thousand times, and I only think I've returned the favor once or twice. Hey, what's up with you and Alex these days?"

Olivia chuckled as she said, "Well, let's just say I'll never understand you straight girls. And when Alex gets mad, she gets- hey, Lexie, stop it! I wasn't going to tell her anything! Stop!" She cried amid gales of laughter. Several long seconds later, Olivia panted, "Sorry about that, Casey. Alex thought I was going to divulge one of her… eh… secrets. Alex, stop looking at me like that! Enough about me, Casey, what about you and Elliot?"

"Ah, me and Elliot," she said wistfully. The two had been dating for about six months, which had been one of the most gossiped about topics in both the precinct and the DA's office. There were those who thought it was blasphemy, that Elliot should be dating Olivia, there were those who could hardly believe that a cop was dating a lawyer, and there were those who said, 'Damn, I can't believe a divorced guy caught a fish as good-looking as her!'

"Well, last night your Detective Blue Eyes bought me dinner, got me drunk, then smiled at me all sweet and nice and, while I don't remember the rest, I think you can guess at what happened."

Olivia whistled while Casey blushed in embarrassment. "Oh, I can! No wonder he was so happy today… you sure you aren't lesbian, Case? Because, if you were-"

"Olivia!" Both Casey and Alex yelled simultaneously.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry!"

"I'll let you deal with your girlfriend, Olivia. She sounds mad," Casey teased, her eyes widening when she thought she heard Alex purring over the phone.

"Oh, you are so going to pay for that tomorrow, Novak," Olivia threatened menacingly, seconds before the line went dead.

Casey leaned back on the couch with a chuckle, then groaned when the power suddenly shut off, leaving her in complete darkness. "Damn it," she muttered. With a sigh, Casey turned her phone off and stumbled blindly to her kitchen, retrieving her one and only bottle of wine from the cabinet. It was still too early to go to bed and now, with the power out, she really had nothing else to do but drink.

About a month after Garcia's trial, Casey had still been spending most nights at Olivia's, only living at her new apartment about one night a week. The detective was especially experienced with alcoholics, considering the events with her mother, and had pegged the stubborn ADA for one almost immediately. In truth, Casey had only started drinking in excess about a month after her attack, and since that was how she dealt with it until she told Olivia, she had rather been expecting this. Olivia had told her to only keep one bottle of wine or beer, whichever was her preference, in her house per week, and never to go to a bar without one of the detectives. They would make sure she didn't get too drunk, and if she started going every night, Olivia would put her foot down. She was getting much better at resisting the temptation, and now didn't down the whole bottle in one sitting the moment she bought her allowed alcohol for the week. Actually, Casey normally tried to hold off for five or six days, and then she would normally only drink half the bottle before storing it away in her fridge again.

She smiled as she swallowed her first gulp of wine, closing her eyes and leaning back against the wall. Wine was almost always her favorite, because of the higher alcohol concentration, but she was getting better at this, and might start leaning towards beer again. "Mmm," Casey sighed, jumping up onto the counter and crossing her legs, starting to think, as was her custom whenever she drank at home now.

Alcoholism wasn't the only thing she was getting better at. Olivia had started gradually nudging her towards a sleep schedule that didn't leave her half-dead during the day until she was able to get a full eight hours a night without remembering any nightmares, though she had still slept with her bat. Then, slowly, Casey had begun to sleep without even that. It had taken months, but now she was able to sleep like a normal person again, only having a nightmare every once and a while. But that was to be expected.

And that wasn't all. Casey still couldn't wear skirts cut more than an inch above her knee, since the scars from the events of over a year ago were still engraved onto her skin. The bullet wound had left a one inch pale line on both sides off her thigh, and the scars Garcia's initials had left in her skin were never going to fade. However, she had been working on dealing with that with Huang. At first, she hadn't wanted to get therapy at all, but Olivia had convinced her to at least try it. The first three wanted her to quit her job, and while that would certainly make it easier, Casey loved her work as an ADA. Even transferring out of SVU, though Branch had offered several times, was out of the question. The fourth had asked her out. So, despite her professional relationship with the psychiatrist, she had asked Huang and he had understood completely. As a result, their relationship had grown so they might actually get lunch or talk outside of work.

Now Casey was getting to the point where she had, at least, found closure. The only true difficulty she had was dealing with rape cases, day after day. True, maybe transferring to another department, like Homicide, would help, but she didn't want to leave SVU. They had done so much for her over this past year, Olivia in particular. They were a family, and she wasn't going to leave just because things got rough. And she was working on it. Casey had gotten to the point where she could stand to be in the same room as a rapist, where she would actually willingly use a victim as a witness, where she stopped wanting to cry every time she heard or read a victim's statement. Huang had told her it would probably get easier with time, she just had to work on it.

"Damn power," she muttered under her breath, corking the bottle when she remembered that she had to lay the ground for the detective's little plan in court tomorrow. If she couldn't use the video as evidence, then the night they had spent plotting in the squad room was going to end up being an absolute waste. Casey couldn't afford to get drunk now. Sighing, she got down and held her hands out, knowing the complete mess that her apartment was and not wanting to run into something. Despite her lame precautions, she managed to run into two walls and a law textbook sent her sprawling on her stomach. "Damn it!"

Casey grabbed the book and shoved it out of the way, somehow making it to her bedroom without killing herself. "Fuck court. Fuck the law, too," she muttered as she lay down, then groaned. It was still way too early to go to sleep. Actually, Casey hadn't gone to bed before midnight in over a month now, but that was because of her workload. "Yeah, fuck Branch, too."

If only her phone hadn't died. Because now she wasn't tired and had absolutely nothing to do for two hours. No work, no TV- she couldn't even clean her apartment, something she did only when she was truly desperate for something to keep herself occupied. Maybe she would take a shower, just to ensure she'd be ready in the morning for her court appearance. Well, it was something to pass the time...

Casey stumbled into her bathroom, managing to do so without falling, then tried to turn on the sink. It took her several seconds to realize that she hadn't grabbed the wrong thing, it was the sink that wasn't working. "Damn, no water too? What the hell?" With a heavy sigh, she trudged back to her bedroom and picked up her other phone, planning to call Elliot. Maybe she could stay at his place. "What the-" No phone lines either. What was going on? Frowning, Casey jumped up on her bed and raised her hand to the vent in the ceiling, feeling for the gentle wind caused by the heating system. Nothing.

Okay... no air, water, phone lines, or power. Last time her apartment building's AC had failed, five people had been taken to the hospital with heatstroke. Now it was winter, and with those newborn twins down on the second floor, the number of hypothermic patients was sure to exceed that, and Casey had no wish to be a part of it. She already felt like she was coming down with something, and winding up with pneumonia or whatever was _not _high on her list of things to do. Groaning, Casey felt around for a skirt and some high heels, wincing when a sharp piece of jewelry poked her wrist instead. This was going to take forever.

It took over half an hour for her to find a court-presentable outfit, makeup, and her briefcase. The power still wasn't back on, so she had some trouble finding her way down to the lobby. "Hey, Eric," she greeted, grinning at the doorman. That had been a condition of Olivia's- her new apartment had to have security. Her old one hadn't even had any security cameras, just a receptionist who helped out new tenets and only looked up from his online poker games to see the person coming in was someone hot or single.

"Casey, hi! Isn't it a little late to be going out?"

She shrugged, loathe to go outside into the wintry air without her coat, which she had conveniently forgotten in her office. "Hey, last time our power failed, all those god damn ambulances woke me up! And you know how little sleep I get."

They both laughed- Casey's strange work hours were an on-going joke between them. Eric was the night doorman, so he often saw her leaving at times like one or two in the morning and not returning until midnight the next day. It wasn't long before he knew about her work as an ADA, and then he started learning the detectives by name when they stopped by periodically for a late-night legal consult, seeing as her apartment building's phones almost never worked anyway. It was the one downside to living here.

"Yeah, I do. And I don't know what's up with the power, this is only my third time here for that and I've worked here for five years. Want me to drop you a call when it's back on?"

Casey hesitated, then shook her head. "Nah, I'll probably work through tomorrow night anyways. If it's not back on in two days, then I can just stay with a friend. Maybe Olivia, cause I know how you like her!"

Eric licked his lips appreciatively at the memory- last time the detective had been here, it was right after an undercover assignment... as a hooker. Her outfit left little to the imagination, and Eric had certainly enjoyed the show she had given him in the lobby. Some 'friendly flirting', as Olivia had put it later, although Casey thought the two made a cute couple. She hadn't bothered to tell Eric about Olivia's orientation- it was just a little crush, after all…

"Well, I can hardly wait, Casey. See you tomorrow night?"

"Yeah. See you then."

Coming up next: Casey and the detectives get drinks and Casey gets a surprise visitor. Feedback please!


	2. Chapter 2

leader: Yeah, you're right about the case, but it doesn't really matter. The case is never mentioned again after this chapter anyways, and when I was writing the explanation in the last chapter I was kind of making it up as I went along.

Well, I'm not posting anything tomorrow for Thanksgiving, so… here you go!

**Chapter 2**

"Ms. Novak? Hey, Novak!" Casey jumped, blinking blearily and looking up at Branch as he stepped into her office. She blushed in embarrassment, getting to her feet and rapidly combing her hair out of her face. "Ms. Novak, did you sleep here?"

She nodded, swaying slightly as a wave of dizziness overtook her and sitting back down again. "Yeah, but that's cause my apartment building's power and such went out, so I needed a place with heat to crash. I'm really sorry, sir, I-"

"Oh, relax, Casey. We've all been known to pull the occasional all-nighter or two. Anyways, I just stopped by to tell you that your case just changed judges, from Trillner to Taft. Trillner was shot in a courthouse shooting just yesterday and is obviously still recovering."

Casey groaned and rolled her eyes, wondering how this day could get any worse. "Well, that's just great. Trillner _loves _me, but Oliver Taft is the most sexist, biased, heartless piece of trash ever to play judge. The last time he said something to me, it was to tell me that he hated green. Guess what color I was wearing?"

He chuckled, shaking his head. "You're a redhead, Casey, green and black are about the only colors that look good on you. And good luck with you and your detective's plan for court today; if it works I would give you a raise, you know, if we had the budget."

Smiling slightly, she started gathering her papers and said, "Right, we have the budget for a shiny new Mercedes but no raises? I like your new car, by the way, very nice, but I've always preferred it in black."

"If only you could afford one."

Casey shooed him out of her office then, laughing and rolling her eyes. "Low blow, Branch. Low blow." When he finally left, she locked the door and started getting dressed for court, hefting the dark green blouse and smiling slightly, imaging the look on Taft's face when she walked into court wearing this.

SVUSVUSVU

"Woah, Detective, wrong way!" Casey called as she grabbed Elliot by his shirt collar, pulling him back from the courtroom he was headed to. "That's where we were for Trillner, but there's been a change of plans. We've got Taft."

"What?" he exclaimed angrily as the ADA started leading him in the right direction. "Taft? What did we do to deserve him?"

"It wasn't me, so don't blame the lawyer," she teased, shooting him a wide grin. "Trillner wound up getting himself shot yesterday, and I think Liz is still mad at me for ditching her last week, so we ended up with Taft. Actually, I think this one's your fault."

Elliot rolled his eyes, shaking his head. "Oh come on, I didn't know you were with Liz when I called you! And you didn't tell me! Besides, you can't tell me that wasn't at least a little fun."

"It was, until Liz interrupted us. That was the worst phone call of my life. 'And if you don't mind _telling _me when you're gonna cancel a business meeting that's been scheduled for not one, but _two _months, then maybe I would let you off easy, but now you're just lucky I don't have a gun!'"

"I _am _sorry about that. I'll have to make it up to one sometime." He kissed her hand, then started meandering up her arm-

"Hey, El, not now! I'm in court, remember?" she said, slapping him playfully. "Come on, later, I promise. Right now I have to play lawyer. And you have to come watch, since this whole fiasco was your idea in the first place."

Elliot sighed but nodded, following her into the courtroom with seconds to spare. "Ms. Novak, so glad you could join us. Do we have your permission to begin, our should we wait while you put on your makeup?"

Glaring at the judge with disdain, Casey hurried up to the prosecutor's table and apologized, all the while wishing she could just go up there and slap him silly. "I'm sorry, Your Honor, it was a very pressing issue-"

"Like we didn't just see you walk in with your boyfriend," Taft sneered. "What, were you making up in the storage closet like two fifth graders or something? Because if my court isn't worth your time, then you can just get out."

Casey shot a warning glance at Elliot before returning her cold gaze to Taft and saying calmly, "While I don't really see how this is any of the court's business, no, I was not kissing Detective Stabler- or anyone else, for that matter. My bike got a flat. Now, can we just continue with the trial?" While it was entirely true her bike had a flat, it was also completely irrelevant- no reason for Taft to know this, though.

"Watch your tone, Ms. Novak. But yes, we can continue with the trial. Court is now in session, Ms. Novak, you may call your first witness."

_Now I officially hate you, Taft, _Casey thought as she got to her feet and said, "The People call Doctor Melinda Warner to the stand." Melinda walked in and Casey sat down, rubbing her sore throat. Damn it. She had felt like she was getting a cold or the flu for the past week or so. If she really was sick, couldn't she just get sick so she could get over it? Because Casey was not taking a sick day unless she threw up.

"Dr. Warner, can you tell us what you found on autopsy of the Liu's son, Eric?"

Melinda nodded and began explaining how she came upon the incriminating evidence while Casey glanced back Jamie, Mrs. Liu's brother. How long would it take him to figure it out? "The Lius said he died of an allergic reaction, so my first priority was to ascertain the truthfulness of that statement. While it was true they gave him a shot of adrenaline, which is the proper treatment for a serious allergic reaction, I could find no evidence of the actual reaction taking place. Upon closer inspection, I found the puncture wound from the shot to be in a vein, not the muscle. Along with causing his air passages to open up, this would have caused severe tachycardia and, if left untreated, death."

"How long, approximately, would it have taken Eric to die?"

"Death would have been immediate. No more than one, two minutes at the most."

Casey nodded, giving the defendant a death glare before turning back to Melinda and asking, "Did you find anything else that was unusual?"

"Yes. I found a video chip in his digestive tract. Based on the location, I would say it was swallowed about one minute before death."

"Small children swallow things all the time, couldn't this have been an accident?"

"This is very unlikely. Eric was fifteen, so it is improbable to say he just picked it up and swallowed it without purpose, and if someone put it in his drink, he would have tasted it. The only practical solution is that he swallowed in on purpose and under duress. Due to the adrenaline shot, his air passageways would have been clear, making it even easier to swallow."

Casey smiled slightly and produced a CD, proclaiming, "The People's exhibit B- the said video chip put in convenient CD form." She put it in the TV and stepped back, a triumphant grin already spreading across her face. The screen showed Janie and Kyle Liu brutally beating Eric. While it turned her stomach, Casey knew it was necessary to convince Jamie of his sister's actions.

Sure enough, Jamie gasped, then jumped to his feet and shouted, "How could you? How could you, Janie, how could you beat your son?" Janie refused to look at him, and Taft ordered the bailiff to remove Jamie from the room. But it was enough. Casey already knew how this was going to play out.

SVUSVUSVU

"Ha! Please, if El would buy me something expensive, then maybe I would return the favor once and a while! But isn't the guy supposed to be the one who gives the girl all the shiny stuff worth lot's of money?"

"Feminist logic!" scoffed Munch, beckoning the bartender over to refill his glass. "My first wife used it on me all the time. Don't fall for it Elliot, if you propose, they leave and take all your money!"

With another chuckle, Casey playfully kicked him and said loudly, "Hey, I'm here, you know! I wouldn't take all his money! I would just take some of it- okay, maybe I would take it all, but just to prove I can! You wanna divorce a lawyer, you're gonna end up poor and homeless."

Munch rolled his eyes and shoved her back, shaking his head. "I think our ADA here has had a little too much to drink. Doesn't she remember when Kathy divorced Elliot? He's already poor and homeless!"

"Yeah, back at you, Munch. How many ex-wives you got now? You're paying alimony for three, right? You only have enough money for Starbucks and I don't remember you ever going home! I think you live at work, which would only make sense if you didn't have a house, homeless man!"

Olivia separated the two, still laughing. "I've seen Munch's apartment, El- while I don't think he's ever heard of interior decorating, he has a place to sleep. And Munch, Elliot bought Casey here a _very_ expensive dinner last week. Hard to do that if you're poor."

"Not unless he stole the money."

"Okay, okay, enough. El and Munch are both drunk enough to start a bar fight right now. Liv, I'll see Munch home safely if you do the same if your man," Fin offered, already leading his partner away from the bar.

"Oh, no," Olivia laughed, shaking her head. "El is _Casey's_ man, not mine. Case, you are driving- well, you don't have a car, so you are calling a cab and making sure Elliot makes it to his dingy apartment, one way or another." Casey sighed and took Elliot's arm, rolling her eyes when he stumbled and almost fell.

"Liv, you so owe me for this."

The taxi ride to Elliot's place was short, and Casey hesitated before ordering the driver to go to her apartment instead of the DA's office. Traffic was a real bitch around Hogan Place this time of night, and she could just grab some clothes from her apartment then bike back to work.

"Hey, Eric, I'm back! Power still out?" He nodded as he let her in, gesturing at the pitch black room before handing her a flashlight.

"Yeah, unfortunately. If this keeps on for another day I'm gonna have more complaints then I know what to do with. You here for the night or are you heading back to work for another all nighter?"

Casey sighed and flicked on the light, squinting around the lobby. "All nighter. I swear, if I don't get a full night's worth of sleep soon, I am going to keel over and die. And yes, I'll leave all my stuff to you in my will." Eric chuckled and waved her on as Casey started climbing up three flights of stairs, then groaned, mentally kicking herself for wearing high heels this morning. _I couldn't have worn boots or anything, I had to wear these death traps from hell!_

When she got upstairs, Casey was surprised to find her door unlocked. _I could have sworn I locked this thing. _Shrugging, she walked inside and started searching for the files she needed.

She whirled around at the sound of the door closing, searching for whoever was here but unable to find anything in the darkness. "Hello, Casey."

Coming up next: the identity of Casey's visitor and Major Case shows up. Happy Thanksgiving!


	3. Chapter 3

leader: Yeah, I didn't remember if Casey ever got Taft disbarred or not, so I just included him in here for the heck of it.

**Chapter 3**

"Who _are _you?" Casey gasped, backpedaling frantically, her flashlight long forgotten.

Whoever he was laughed and stepped forward, heading straight for her. "Aw, you don't recognize my voice? I'm hurt, Casey, I really am. I certainly remember our last night together, why don't you?"

"I- I don't know who the hell you are or how you got in here, but I'm calling the police!" she shouted, pulling out her phone and trying to run to her bedroom, but only running into a wall.

"Hey, hey, not so fast!" A hand grabbed her and yanked her back, turning her around to face him. "No need for that! And besides, you deserve your punishment, after lying like you did. I've been planning for this for almost a year and I'm not gonna be stopped by some half-assed cops trying to protect someone who doesn't need protection."

"Who _are_ you?" she screamed again, struggling to get out of his gasp as she started to panic. He clicked on a flashlight of his own-

"_No!" _she screamed, kicking and punching him, trying to escape anyway she could. _"No no no no no no!"_

Danny Garcia just laughed and held her tight against the wall, shaking his head. "Aw, there's my Casey- always a fighter. Don't worry, I'll still take you back. We're even going to have sex, but you have to be a good girl and take your punishment first, all right?"

Casey was beyond words now. She tried to bite his hand, groaning in pain when he slammed her head back against the wall and pulled out a gun. "Oh, I knew you weren't going to be nice. You never were good at taking your medicine. Well, you deserve this punishment and you're going to get it- now, I will shoot you unless you play nice, all right?"

She hesitated, racking her mind for anyone that might show up to help in the next couple of minutes- but everyone she knew was at home and probably asleep! It took every fiber of her being to nod and not fight back, and she nearly threw up when he stroked her hair and grinned. "Good girl. Now, I'm going to take you downstairs. You are going to tell your doorman that we are going on a date, understand?"

_Eric! Of course! _Casey could get a message to Eric, and when Elliot or somebody came looking for her, Eric would tell them what happened. It was her only chance... she nodded mutely, and Garcia smiled, satisfied, then led her out of her apartment, ramming the gun into her back.

Eric smiled at her, confused, as he opened the door for her. "Hey, Casey. I thought you were going back to work?"

"Um, no, I have a date. Tell Elliot that when he comes by and that I'm sorry, I forget to tell him wasn't going to be here."

Eric's smile widened as he looked Garcia over, then stuck out his hand and said, "Well, best of luck to you, sir, although Casey's first dates never seem to go well." Under normal circumstances, Casey would have been horrified at him telling her date- or anyone- that, but she was already terrified out of her mind. Going on a first date seemed like the most trivial thing in the world right now.

"Good girl," he said again when they got outside. "And I don't want you to know where we're going, so I'll give you a little something to put you out once we get in the car. Don't worry, I won't have any fun until you're awake, I promise." At the mention of being unconscious with Garcia, Casey could hold herself together no longer and threw up on the sidewalk. Garcia just laughed, patting her gently on the back. "Nervous to be with me again? Yeah, we _are _gonna have some fun!"

SVUSVUSVU

"Has anybody seen Ms. Novak yet?" Taft asked, pointedly glaring at Casey's empty seat.

Olivia glanced at Elliot and he shook his head, glancing at his watch and frowning slightly. "I'll go get Branch to cover for her, he said he was gonna be in court today. Can you go check her-"

"Apartment? Already gone." Elliot hurried out of the courtroom, not sure if he should be concerned or not. True, Casey was never late for a court appearance, but she had seemed a little strange the past couple of days, like she had a cold or something. Maybe she had just overslept.

Nevertheless, Elliot was finding the nerves impossible to control as he drove to her apartment. He was walking rather quickly and almost bumped into someone on his way in. "Detective Stabler? Casey isn't here."

"What?" He turned, frowning at the young man standing in the doorway. "Who are you? How do you know my name?"

"I'm Eric! The night doorman here- remember, you came here last week or something, for Casey. Anyway, she left at about one this morning, hasn't come back. With a really good-looking date, too."

"A date? Are you sure he was her date?"

He nodded, shrugging and giving him a small smile. "Yeah, she said he was. Casey told me to tell you she was sorry, she forgot to tell you she wouldn't be here. Thought it was kind of weird, since it was so late at night, but hey, I wasn't going to intrude."

Elliot stared at Eric, shocked. _Casey? Casey's cheating on me? That doesn't make any sense. Besides, why would she tell Eric to tell me she was seeing somebody else? _

Nothing was making any sense today. "Yeah, yeah, that's great- can you describe him?"

Eric sighed, crossing his arms unhappily. "Yeah, he was Mexican or something, about Casey's age. Look, I'm sure they'll be back eventually, why don't you just wait for them? I kind of have somewhere to be-"

"This place, does it have security cameras?"

"Yeah, but power's been out for two days, almost, so you won't have anything about her boyfriend on them. Why do you care? Is he a criminal or something, cause I'm pretty sure Casey can take care of yourself-"

"Listen here, you. _I'm _Casey's boyfriend, not whoever you saw, and Casey would never cheat on me, period, much less tell me about it through a doorman. And now she's gone missing, and the last person to see her is this mysterious 'date' you keep talking about! Either you tell me what happened or I'll arrest you for obstruction, so talk!"

Eric stared at him, shocked, before saying quietly, "Hey, man, I didn't see that much. I don't even remember seeing this guy come in, but Casey didn't seem scared or anything, so I let her go!"

SVUSVUSVU

Elliot groaned when he heard Eric repeat his line about not knowing anything to the detectives from Major Case Squad, Alexandra Eames and Bobby Goren. They had been called in when Casey hadn't been seen for almost twelve hours- technically, they were supposed to wait 48, but the captain from MCS owed Cragen a favor. Elliot hadn't wanted to hand this case off at all- Casey was part of SVU, she wasn't just some random lawyer who happened to prosecute their cases. Unfortunately, they technically had no business investigating a kidnapping, no matter who the victim was, so MCS was sticking their ugly faces all in SVU's business. At least it wasn't IAB.

"Hey, El," Olivia panted, running up to him from the squad room. "I just got a print of Danny Garcia's mug shot. If he has anything to do with this..."

Elliot stared at her in horror, unable to even consider that. He hadn't even thought Garcia was involved in this. But he was Mexican, the only detail of their perp's description Eric had been able to remember... He ripped the picture from Olivia's hands and rushed into the conference room, slamming it down in front of Eric. "Is this the guy?"

Eric frowned, staring at it for a moment, then rolled his eyes and nodded. "Yes! Yes, that's him- now, can I go now?"

Alex grabbed the picture, then looked up at Elliot and demanded, "Who the hell is this?"

Cragen, who had been watching from the corner, looked at the picture, then groaned and looked away. "That is Danny Garcia. He's the bastard who raped Casey last year."

SVUSVUSVU

Casey moaned groggily, slowly opening her eyes as a headache pounded threw her skull. At first, she couldn't feel anything besides the pain in her head, then a slow agony started building in her left arm until it was almost unbearable. What the hell? Where was she? Blinking blearily, she looked around, then caught sight of her hands- handcuffed to two hooks on the wall. Her left arm was deathly pale and disfigured- at the elbow, she thought she could see the bone pushing against the skin, trying to break through. And she was freezing! Casey looked down at herself then jerked in shock- instead of her court suit, she was wearing a tanktop and unreasonably short shorts- shorts she didn't even own. Okay, what the hell was going on?

She surveyed the small room, searching for anything to tell her what was happening or where she was, all the while fighting the tears forming in her eyes from her left arm, There was a table with syringes and pill bottles scattered across it in the corner, stairs leading to another room on the wall next to her. Other then that, the room was empty, save for a bed backed up against the far wall. "Oh! Casey! I'm sorry, I dozed off."

Frowning, she looked around for the source of the voice... _oh no. Oh god no. Not again. Never again. _

Danny Garcia, the nightmare that came to her in the darkness and sent her into reality with a scream for almost five months straight, the man who still haunted her whenever she saw the scars in the mirror... was just five feet away from her.

And she couldn't move to fight him off.

"Oh, that's right, you probably don't remember how you got here. The drug I gave you has that affect. Well, I told you I would still take you back, even after you lied about me to the police, but when I mentioned your punishment, you backed out. So I gave you a little something to calm you down and brought you here. I'm sorry, though- I think I broke your arm when I put you in my car. By the way, you sure made this hard for me. I've been trying to get you alone in your apartment for days. I poisoned your food a while back from your favorite Chinese takeout place, just so you'd get a little cold and come home for sick leave, but _no_, you wouldn't play nice. I turned off your power and everything so the security cameras wouldn't catch me, picked your lock, and was waiting in your apartment for almost two days before you showed up. I thought I was gonna have to come to your work. Well, the next ten days are probably going to be hell for you, but you deserve it, after sending me to prison. I escaped; I got lucky. But I'm not gonna let you off so easy. No, I don't think so. But hey, think positive! Ten days from now, your punishment will be up, and you will get the best sex you have ever had."

Coming up next: Casey's punishment begins and Alexandra Cabot returns. And I've already decided if Casey gets raped again or not, so don't try and change my mind!


	4. Chapter 4

Oh yeah, Charlie! I never even thought about him- isn't he only mentioned in two episodes? They could have done so much more with that… Anyways, my school caught fire this weekend, so I get another day of Thanksgiving break! Yay! And, now I'm going to start include when the date changes. I meant that ten days thing, so this way its more suspenseful and you know what's coming. Countdown runs out October ninth- as in, that's the day her punishment ends. And no, that won't be in one or two chapters, it'll take longer.

**Chapter 4**

**September 29th, 8:01 pm.**

"I'm sorry, we didn't think we should warn his previous victims when he escaped, we didn't think-"

"No one cares what you think!" Elliot shouted, raising his fist to punch the unfortunate intern.

"Right now, because you didn't report it, my girlfriend is missing and I swear, if anything happens to her, then you-"

"_Elliot!_" Olivia cried as she pulled him back, gesturing for the intern to leave. "El, you know he had no reason to warn his previous victims, all right, no reason to waste energy on him! Right now, our only priority is finding Casey."

Elliot closed his eyes in anger, then turned on his heel and stalked back to the squad room. The shaken intern sighed in relief, leaning back against the wall. "Thank you, Miss-"

"That's _Detective_ to you, and I'll have you know the only reason I did that is because we need Elliot on this one. I've got half a mind to kill you myself- Casey is one of us, and if this bastard hurts her, it'll be on you." Olivia gave him another death glare before leaving as well, allowing MCS to have their turn, although that would be pointless. They already knew everything they needed to know- that Garcia had escaped from prison two weeks ago, and no one had thought it was a good idea to even warn Casey.

"What've we got?" Cragen demanded as they approached the whiteboard, blank except the picture from Casey's ADA badge with the word _missing_ written under it. Olivia shivered slightly at that. While they technically shouldn't be investigating this, Cragen had allowed them to do so as long as the kept their sex crimes cases under control. As of now, everything was just paperwork for trial, trials that nobody cared about until they found Casey. She sighed unhappily, looked at Munch and Fin as they started explaining the little progress they had made.

"Casey's cell is at her apartment, and there are no bugs or weird calls that we can find. Security cameras from the ATM across the street show her leaving with Garcia at about 1 in the morning last night. He says something to her, she throws up, and he just sits next to her, holds her hair back- like a fuckin gentleman. When Casey's done, we can see him giving her a shot of… something in her arm. Takes her about ten seconds to pass out. Garcia just picks her up and carries her to his car, but bangs her arm against it, and when we enlarged the image we can see the bone almost poking through the skin. Throws her in the trunk, none too gentle, then drives off down south. We got a license plate, too."

Fin nodded and took over here. "We ran it, car was reported stolen last week. We put out an APB already, nothing yet, but Garcia has family in the direction he was driving, I called ahead and they said they never wanted to hear from me again and certainly weren't going to let any detectives onto the premises..."

They needed a warrant. No one wanted to say they had to look for someone to get it for them- for years, the usual response had been 'I'll call Novak,' or 'Novak'll drop it off at the crime scene'. Now, though...

Eventually, Cragen said, "I'll take care of it. Right now, I want Elliot and Olivia outside the family's house- Munch, Fin, call Melinda and Huang. I want to know what was in that shot he gave her and I need a pysch profile of this guy, _now._ Anything we can use to find her..." The group dissipated instantly- Elliot and Olivia to the squad car, Munch and Fin back to their desks to make the calls. Cragen grabbed his coat and gun, then went down to Hogan Place.

SVUSVUSVU

"Captain Cragen! Wow! I haven't seen you in _forever!_"

He smiled thinly at the blonde attorney grinning up at him, wishing this could be done under better circumstances. Nowadays, he only saw Alex when she came to take Olivia on a date. Glancing over his shoulder suspiciously, he murmured, "Alex, not that it's not _great_ to see you again, and I know this seems really sudden and all, but I need a favor. A big one. I need you to come back to SVU and work a case for me."

Alex stared at him, shocked, then burst out laughing. "Oh please, Don, I don't think so. I'm a bureau chief now, I don't have time for SVU- and besides, isn't Casey still working with you? Why can't she-"

"Alex, _that's_ the case. Casey. She's the victim. Last year, when you were still in Witness Protection, a man... a man raped her, and he just broke out of prison only two weeks ago and came after her- we have video tape of him leaving with her, and no one's seen her sense. We saw him headed in the same direction his parents live but now we need a warrant. _Please,_ Alex."

She blinked, wanting to believe he was joking- but the look in his eyes said differently, and besides, Cragen didn't joke about anything. "Fax me the info you need. I'm making this case my top priority- Casey and I were friends in law school before she turned white collar," she explained, beginning to set all her other files aside.

"Thank you. Alex, I-"

"I don't need your thanks, Don. This isn't a favor; I'm doing this for Casey." He nodded and turned to leave. "And, Don?" Cragen hesitated, glancing back at her as she gave him a cold, hard look filled with determination, the same determination that had won SVU's cases, so long ago. "Find her."

SVUSVUSVU

**September 30****th****, 1:43 am.**

"No!" Casey shouted, kicking at Garcia again as he tried to approach, thrashing against the restraints in another futile attempt to escape.

"I _told_ you to stay still!" Casey bared her teeth and growled at him like a caged animal, biting his hand when he made to push her back. "_Hey!_ Take your punishment, bitch! You deserve it!" She screamed again, this time head butting him and groaning at the sudden dizziness in her skull. "All right, fine! Have it your way! I knew this was going to be difficult. Bitch, you never did what you were told." Garcia stalked away, and at first Casey thought she was lucky and had succeeded in putting her punishment off- for the time being, at least- but she was wrong. He searched through the medicine on the table in front of her until he found a syringe with yellow tape around it. "Yeah, this'll keep you still." Horror washed through her when he injected whatever it was into her right arm; she fought back, kicking and screaming, but it was getting harder and harder to move.

At first she thought it was just exhaustion, but when, almost a minute later, she couldn't move anything, she realized it was the drug Garcia had given her. "Ah, that's it," he said when she was rendered completely immobile. "It's a benzodiapane. Paralytic, so you won't be able to move, but you'll feel every single thing I do. You deserve it, Casey, after what you did to me. And once it wears off, if you're willing to take your punishment like a good girl, then I won't paralyze you again. If you fight back, though, then I'll just keep giving you more and more of my secret stash until you finally remember how to act. You always were a little stubborn- I'll give you three shots before you give up. Maybe four, if you're really strong. But, if you know what's best for you, you'd give up the defiant act now." Casey wanted to snarl a violent denial, wanted to scream that she would never succumb to him, but she couldn't move her mouth to form the words. Garcia just laughed as he set the now empty syringe down, then turned back to her and punched her in the eye. Casey gave a pained whimper, but she still couldn't open her mouth, so the sound was from her throat and almost too soft to be heard.

"Ha! You can't fight back now, bitch, you can't fight back!" Garcia punched her in the stomach, and this time her groan was audible as the familiar pain from when she used to hit herself last year flooded through her torso. He laughed, ecstatic as he hit her again and again, and by the time Casey heard the cracks symbolizing her bones breaking it was a relief to feel the sickening cool numbness spreading through her limbs. She knew this was bad, very bad, but it was a nice alternative to the pain. While she could feel them hurting, it was more like a gentle burn then anything else. Garcia must have been discouraged by the lack of pained groans coming from her throat, so he started to hit her harder.

Yes, broken bones didn't hurt that much. That was until you tried to move them, or, in Casey's case, got hit.

Thin screams were ripped from her throat as the ache transformed into a hungry, snarling beast, one that fed on sleep and numbness and was accompanied by a wave of pain so great it rendered her breathless. The once only annoying burn erupted into a blazing inferno, and the flames were so hot it now wouldn't have matter whether she was paralyzed or not, she still wouldn't be able to move, and the red haze clouded her vision until the only thing she could see, hear, taste, or feel, was pain.

Coming up next: Casey's punishment continues and the detectives begin their search. Medical Notes: Yes, paralytics exist, although I don't know if a benzodiapane would give the effect I described. I have never been to medical school and don't feel like looking through episodes of House MD for the write drug cocktail and then trying to spell it correctly, so I just used benzodiapanes. Also, this goes for any of medical stuff I say later on- I really have no idea what I'm saying, so don't go after me for something I write, I'm warning you now


	5. Chapter 5

Ugh. I would have had this up earlier but the site was down. Anyway, I'm basing all Casey's experiences with broken bones on when I broke my arm a few years ago, but it was really just a hairline fracture, so I'm probably way off base. And thanks for the bit about the compound fracture, I didn't know- I keep accidentally killing Casey through mistakes like that. I'm sorry, by the way- I don't really know Spanish, I just used an online dictionary, so if some of the lines in this chapter are wrong, then yeah, I'm sorry, I'm better at Portuguese…

**Chapter 5**

**September 30th, 8:37 am.**

"Here's your warrant, go!" Alex shouted, handing the warrant to Munch without stopping as she ran up to the house. Someone who she assumed was Garcia's mother was baring them from entering, but Alex commanded, "Ma'am, we have a search warrant for the premises, now step aside or you'll be arrested for obstruction."

"No English, Alex," Fin said as he hurried to her side and said, "Senora, nosotros poseer un busca sanear pues la casa, ahora escalon aparte o les agrado suyo detener pues perturbacion." When she hesitated, eyes widening in fear, he shouted, _"Ahora!"_

The woman moved aside, allowing SVU to enter the house. Alex hung back- she desperately wanted to go in, but knew if Garcia was there with a gun, she would only get in the way.

"Who are you?" Alex turned to see another Mexican- probably Garcia's father- coming up the cab, dressed in what was no doubt an expensive suit and grinning with what was probably an even more expensive smile.

"Mr. Garcia?" she queried, just to make sure before she started questioning him. He nodded, so she explained, "I'm Alexandra Cabot- I work for the city, I need to know where you last saw your son, Danny Garcia."

His face darkened, and when she heard her son's name, the mother started rambling off questions in Spanish so fast Alex wouldn't have been able to understand her, even if she was talking in English. The father shushed her quickly and said, "Ms. Cabot, we cut off all contact with our son the moment he was convicted last year. Now, if you would please-"

"He's not here." Fin said dejectedly as he left, glaring at the ground. "We've gotta interview the parents, but it won't lead anywhere." Elliot brushed past Fin as he stormed from the house, Olivia right behind him.

"Elliot!" she cried, hurrying to catch up with him. Elliot just got into the squad car and slammed the door so loud Alex actually flinched. Olivia glanced apologetically at Alex dashed forward, jumping into the car before he sped away without her.

Munch frowned after them, then turned to Garcia's father and asked, "Who is this?"

"_I'm _Marcos Garcia, what the hell are you people doing in my house?" Alex just sighed and went back to her car, shaking her head. Sure, the detectives would interrogate the Garcias, but it wouldn't lead anywhere. And with Casey still missing, every moment was precious. Alex didn't intend to waste anytime here.

**September 30th, 9:03 am.**

Pain. At the moment, that's the only word Casey could use to describe herself. Pain pain pain pain pain. Ache, burning, excruciating, stinging, agony- no matter what way she put it, it all came down to pain.

Everything hurt. The agony she had thought was her left arm had not lessened, but she had learned of a pain so much greater she longed to only feel the broken bone once again, and not any of her other injuries. She was no doctor, but characterized what was hurt on where the pain was worst, which ran on a continuous cycle- sometime it was her chest, other times her head, her legs- however, the waves of pain that were caused by her left wrist never seemed to break or only lap at her mind; they crested over her mental barriers and crashed into her, over and over again, never ceasing, never breaking in the intensity of their strength and speed, and it had grown to be where they came in a regular pattern- one two three four BAM one two three four BAM one two three four... Every time, just as the pain began to just barely lessen in severity, another wave would be right behind it. Casey couldn't see too well- one of her eyes was swollen shut- but, as best as she could tell, her left wrist was bruised dark purple all the way around, her hand deathly pale. And that was another thing- her hand. The paralytic had long since worn off, but she still couldn't move her left hand. This should of concerned her, but it didn't.

"Casey, honey, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to go so rough on you this morning. I just got carried away- I was so happy to finally be with you again... but I _do_ want you to be able to reward you for being such a brave little girl and enduring your punishment, but I can't have sex with you if you've got all these broken bones, you would throw a fit. So I decided to go easy on you. Now, your punishment is still going to last ten- well, nine days now, but I'll try to make it not as bad as this morning, okay? Now, here's some water, I'm sure your thirsty." Garcia lifted a bottle of water to her lips, but Casey flattened herself against the wall as best she could, jerking her head up and away from the offered water, which was probably drugged, and even with it wasn't, she had no intention of giving into him. "Come _on_, Casey," he groaned. "Being persistent in your stubbornness never worked with me. Now, drink!"

"I'll never drink anything you offer me, bastard," she hissed, ignoring the pain it sent through her stomach.

"Fine, have it your way," he said with a shrug. "I can't have you dying of thirst, though. Sorry if this hurts, baby, it never was supposed to be part of your punishment." Garcia suddenly grabbed her by the throat, forcing her head to remain still as he tried to force the water into her mouth.

"No!" she managed to choke out, writhing to escape from his grasp.

"Drink, bitch, or I'll have to break on my promise to go easy on you!" Casey just shot him a glare- the handcuffs were the only thing keeping her upright, and if she kicked him, she would probably end up falling and injuring her already hurt wrist, so she just kept her cold eyes on him as she refused to open her mouth. "_Really? What about now?" _He shouted, pulling out his knife and holding it to her throat.

Casey froze, her only two options becoming terrifyingly clear- do what he wanted... or die.

Her pride, or death.

There was really only one choice here. Casey slowly unlocked her jaw and forced her mouth open, but she was so scared she almost coughed up the lukewarm liquid he poured down her throat. "See? That wasn't so hard, was it?" She didn't answer, just glared at him and tried to control her breathing. "Well, you can play like that, if you want. Now, I have to get some rest- I don't want to be all tired when I punish you later, so you, just keep quiet. I could always paralyze you again, if you don't want to play nice." Casey was only interested in fighting back when he was trying to hurt her; as of now, she was resting, too. Resting her tired and injured body as the pain welled up and swallowed her again, trying to ignore her desire to let sleep overtake her so she could live without the agony, even if only for a little while. Garcia took her non-answer as an agreement, because he left her alone and headed to the bed in the back falling down on it like he was exhausted.

She couldn't take nine more days of this. She couldn't take _one_ more day of this. _Elliot!_ she prayed desperately. _Where are you?_

**September 30th, 1:00 pm.**

"Elliot, look at me!" Olivia shouted for the thousandth time. Elliot himself was pacing around the conference room, refusing to raise his eyes from the ground. He had been like that ever since they finished the interrogations of Garcia's parents, which had, not surprisingly, led no where. _"Elliot!"_

She grabbed him by the shoulders, forcing him to stand still, and for a moment she thought he was going to slap her. "Olivia, get out! You're not helping one fuckin bit, and-"

"Hey, you're not helping by just standing around here! Casey needs all of us right now, and she especially needs you! We can't just do nothing, we have to help her! I know you love her even more than I do, and I know _you_, Elliot- you're not just going to wait for her to die, you're gonna find her!"

He glared at her, then ripped out of her grasp and headed towards the door, only raising his cold eyes to hers to say in that voice of his so full of determination and fire it reminded her of Casey, "Liv, she's not going to die."

Olivia sighed, then followed him out to the squad room again, where Munch, Fin, Cragen, and Alex were all discussing the case. Melinda and Huang were standing a few feet away, arguing over a few files and pictures in heated tones until Cragen called them both over. "Have either of you got something for us?"

"I can't be-"

"It would take a few-" They both started at the same time. Huang sighed and waved Melinda forward, stepping back slightly.

She nodded her thanks and said in a rush, "I've got the information you wanted, Don, but unfortunately, I can't be too specific. Any number of drugs might have caused the symptoms we saw in the video, from Potassium Chloride- used in lethal injections- to a high dose of Ativan. I got Ryan to run a search for me- he looked for any places with recent unsolved break-ins or robberies coupled with the drugs he most likely used. This is what he got."

Melinda handed Cragen the sheet and he swore, tossing it onto a desk as he exclaimed, "That's over fifty locations, Melinda! Casey doesn't have that long!"

"I'll get the rookies started on it," Munch said, grabbing the sheet and taking off at a run.

Huang took the opportunity to come forward with his findings. "I haven't had time to review the files from last year, but from what I remembered and how he abducted Casey this time, you have your basic control freak coupled with a dangerous violent reaction to being rejected by women. His carving his initials into the victim's skin is because he wants to prove to the world he owns them, and he truly believes he and his victims belong together. In his mind, once a woman rejects him, they are just being stupid, so he has sex with them and honestly believes they will call him again. Why he fixated on Casey again, I can't tell you, but I _can_ tell you he won't kill her, at least not yet. But I think he will try and punish her for reporting the rape, and if he gets carried away, I doubt she'll be able to stop him. Garcia is meticulous, careful, and patient- and if we wait too long, one of two things will happen- either Casey breaks, and she'll do whatever he says, or she won't break... and he kills her."

A heavy silence fell, all of them knowing the only possible outcome. Casey would never give up. She'd rather die then give in to Garcia.

Of course, that might be the exact asking price.

Coming up next: Casey's punishment continues and the detectives get a lead


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

**October 2nd, 2:15 am.**

The 48 hours mark on when they technically should have started investigating the kidnapping did nothing except increase the detective's fervor to find Casey. Melinda's report for the drugs Garcia used had narrowed it down to two hospitals, but even if they saw him stealing the medicine, it wouldn't help them find him. Alex had several of her ADAs at the courthouse, where they were just waiting for her to call in need of a warrant. She had everything set up to call the feds, if need be- they owed her, after all, and if SVU needed their advanced equipment and manpower to find Casey, then Alex wouldn't hesitate to call in that favor.

Unfortunately, the other rapists and pedophiles of the street were not resting, and Brooklyn SVU was being pushed to the breaking point, dealing with both Brooklyn's and Manhattan's sex crimes. Alex was working out a deal with their DA, but he was adamant they should leave the searching for MCS, even though their perp was a rapist and, according to Huang's newest profile, he would most likely commit the crime again. When Elliot had heard that, he had stormed out of the squad room, soon followed by Olivia. No one had seen them sense.

The ringing of her phone startled Alex out of her reverie, and she quickly got upright so she wouldn't start to fall asleep again. "Alex Cabot, DA's office."

"Alex, it's Don. We've got a lead."

SVUSVUSVU

Casey took another breath, closing her eyes and trying to concentrate through the pounding in her head. By now she had guessed she had a concussion, but wasn't sure. She wasn't sure how many days it had been, either, but if she based it on how many times Garcia had forced water down her throat, she had seven days left of this hell. Casey wasn't sure if she looked forward to that last day or dreaded it.

Garcia hadn't lied; he had been gentler with her ever since that first night, and some of the pain had started to fade. Unfortunately, the damage had already been done, and her broken bones weren't certainly healing and were feeling worse and worse by the second. Still, every time he approached her, Casey had refused to cooperate. She had now been paralyzed five times, each one worse than the last. It scared the hell out of her, but Casey wasn't sure she would be able to handle just hanging there limply while he beat her like a dog.

Right now, Garcia was gone. He had said that she was being a resistant little girl and using up his supply of drugs, so he had left to get more. Casey had tried screaming for help, but her chest had hurt so much that she was now just concentrating on breathing. In and out, in and out. It had taken a while, but now the pain from a task even that simple had finally subsided to a dull ache. By now, she knew trying to escape was futile, and Casey was far too wary of hurting her already injured wrist, and the pain from that had not even begun to fade at all. She was worried the bone might be shattered.

_Elliot, where are you?_

**October 2nd, 8:09 am.**

"Melinda's lab guy just told us his program got another hit- Mercy Hospital, one of the hospitals already stolen from- they just reported another theft of benzodiapanes. Melinda says that they can be used to temporarily paralyze someone, and Huang says that Garcia might use them to control Casey."

Elliot shuddered at the thought, then exclaimed, "Well that's all fine and dandy, but how the hell does this help us find her?"

Huang stepped forward quickly and explained, "While we can't find Garcia just from this robbery alone, we can put a stakeout on the hospital and wait for him to return. If Casey can hold out just a little while longer he'll have to come back for more drugs, and then we can follow him back to Case-"

"_Hold out just a little while longer? Just how much longer you talking about?_" Elliot practically bellowed, and Melinda hurried forward before he started throwing punches at anybody and everybody who stood between him and finding his Casey.

"Judging by the amounts he took, he only has enough for three more injections, just three, and he took enough for five the first time! Just two days at the most, Elliot, then we'll be able to find her."

"It's our job to find her! It's our job to keep her safe and not let this bastard ever touch her again! And you're telling me you want Casey to somehow survive being paralyzed while he beats or rapes her? You dare ask her of that? She does not have to fight this bastard off one second longer! We are going to find her before he _ever _ touches her with those drugs again!"

"Elliot!" Cragen shouted, pulling him back from where he was screaming in Melinda's face. "Elliot, go cool off _now_." He met the furious detective's glare with a, "That is an order, Detective Stabler." A tense moment passed, then he stormed out of the squad room, Olivia hot on his heels.

"Elliot! Hey, Elliot!" He ignored her, just kept running and running down the street as fast as he could. Olivia followed close behind until he finally ran out of breath several minutes later, almost a mile from the police station. He gasped for breath, leaning heavily against the wall, and when Olivia finally managed to swing around and see his face, his eyes were red. "Elliot..."

"I can just see him... doing things to her- I can see her blood, I hear her screaming... I can see him putting that poison in her veins, stopping her from moving or fighting back..."

"Hey, we don't know what he's doing to her, Elliot-"

"What the hell do you think he's doing? This bastard raped her once, Liv, he's going to do it again unless we get to her first! And Huang said he'd punish her for reporting it the first time- is it just the drugs, or something else? And-"

"Hey," she interrupted gently, shaking her head. "Elliot, I know Casey. She's strong enough to survive until we find her, and we _will_ find her. She's just too damn stubborn to ever give up. Remember when she was going after Taft? She could of lost her job, but she kept on going. And when Zergin nearly killed her, the moment she left the hospital she wanted to right back to work... And when she subpoenaed Donald Rumsfeld..." Olivia swallowed back her own tears at the memories of Casey, the memories where, even in the worst possible situation, Casey had still had that fire in her eyes, that determination, the stubborn will to do what was right...

"You're right. My Casey is too strong to ever let Garcia... she's not going to give up. We are going to find her." Elliot's voice was cold and steady as he turned and started jogging back to the precinct, but she knew his outward shell was a lie, and inside he was really mess. Just the idea of someone taking Alex like that…

Despite what she told Elliot, Olivia just couldn't see Casey holding out forever. Who knew what this bastard was doing to her, but if he just kept paralyzing her over and over again... Casey would eventually just give up. It wasn't in her to do that, but after enough torture, she might.

Her flame might die.

**October 3rd, 12:32 am.**

"Hey honey, I'm home!" Casey jerked as Garcia walked slowly down the stairs, perfectly at ease. "I got some more of your sweet little medicine, but baby, if you're ready to cooperate, you won't need it."

_I hate being called baby, or babe, or any variation of the word. You know that. I told you that. _But Casey also hated everything else he was doing, and he didn't care about that, either. "Well? What'll it be?" In answer, Casey bared her teeth and when he tried to raise her chin up with his finger, she almost bit it but he withdrew it just in time. "Aww, don't be like that. When I finally end your punishment, it'll be so much better for you if you just took it like a good girl now."

Casey fixed her with his most withering glare, and he shrugged, starting to inject the poison into her uninjured wrist... again. "Whatever. Have it your way." By now, the cold, numb feeling that wrapped around her muscles was familiar, but that didn't mean she was used to it. It sickened her to the point of nausea, but she tried not to show it. She had to be strong.

It started off with just a little slap, but the bruises already on her face burned when his hand made contact. Casey settled herself in for another beating, knowing she couldn't do anything about it and resigned to wait until Elliot came. She had to believe he would come..

.

**October 3rd, 8:09 am.**

"I understand, Sarah, and I'm sorry, can you just ask your detectives to focus on their cases first, then Manhattan's? Because mine aren't going to do anything not related to their ADA until they find her, and-"

"Alex, just because you're my friend doesn't mean I have to be nice to you when you are doing something completely unprofessional, immoral, and ridiculous. My detectives are giving me the worst evidence I have ever seen because they're working YOUR cases, one has already had a nervous breakdown, the others haven't slept in days, and the DA is just about to fire me because I haven't been to win a single case, get a single warrant, or do anything in general ever since this charade started. You Manhattan people need to stop denying that you may never see your ADA again and start doing your jobs, since I certainly hope you don't expect Brooklyn to keep taking your cases on."

"First things first, Sarah, we are going to see Casey again and she will be alive. There is no other option. We have a lead that will follow through in no less than three days. And second of all, if, God forbid, we haven't found her soon, we'll start taking our cases back- but I want to make one thing clear-"

"That you will never stop looking for her? Got it. But Alex, if you don't find her 'soon'... how many cases will it be before it becomes okay she's gone?" Sarah hung up with that, leaving Alex listening to the dial tone in disbelief.

Sarah Childs was Brooklyn SVU's ADA, and Brooklyn was buckling under the weight of Manhattan's cases. Hell, Alex was about to collapse and she was only prosecuting them and helping out with Casey's kidnapping. She was giving all her work for her job as Bureau Chief to her assistant. She couldn't imagine how hard Brooklyn was working right now, but that just didn't matter. SVU did not trust Major Case to find Casey. Give it another day, and MCS would probably had moved onto to fresher bodies.

Sarah's last comment continued playing through her head like a curse- how many cases before it becomes okay she's gone? Alex didn't want to admit it, but every passing day made it more likely they would never find her, or that when they did, she'd be dead. They couldn't keep looking for her forever. And, unless they found her NOW, someday the day would come when they would have to simply take on a new case and try and forget about her.

And that day was going to come soon.

Coming up next: The detectives' lead comes through and they rescue Casey. And, by the way, I know there are people lurking out there who are reading this and not reviewing because I got about 15 subscribers for the first chapter that never reviewed. So… Please, please, review!


	7. Chapter 7

Yay! My lurkers reviewed! Just kidding, I love you guys. And, VampirePrincess86… UPDATE LIFE OR DEATH! UPDATE LIFE OR DEATH! UPDATE LIFE OR DEATH!

**Chapter 7**

**October 7th, 11:48 pm.**

Casey hung limply from the wall, only held upright by the handcuffs. She was still counting days by whenever Garcia gave her water, so, if that was accurate, it had been eight days. But she hadn't had anything to eat in all that time. He paralyzed her at least twice between drinks. But now, the pain was beginning to fade, in it's place an overwhelming sense of exhaustion. She wanted to sleep. She wanted to sleep so badly it all she could think about. Garcia thought she was becoming more compliant, but she wasn't- it just took so much effort to fight back she didn't have the strength to. She barely felt his blows now, and by how tired she was and how little pain she felt, Casey knew the end was near. However, she couldn't bring herself to care. The end equaled sleep. She longed for that right now, longed for it so much that, while she knew the idea of death should scare her, it didn't. Her only hope was that Elliot wouldn't blame himself. That he would move on, find somebody else.

Because she was done.

**October 8th, 1:09 am.**

"Hey, all, our lead came back! Everybody, wake up!" Munch shouted, banging his fist on the table. When that did absolutely nothing, Munch tore Olivia's coffee from her limp grip and poured the now cold liquid on her head.

The detective jumped up with a scream, hand reaching for her empty holster. Everyone else woke up at the sound, reacting like cops, all reaching for their guns, except for Alex. She jerked and almost fell out of a chair, scrambling to her feet in a panic. "What the _hell_?" Olivia screamed at him, gesturing at her now soaking wet hair and coffee-stained clothes.

"Our lead! The guy stealing drugs from the hospital just hit it again! Major Case is following him but Alex gave us a call and told us-"

"What are you talking about? I didn't call you," Alex muttered crossly as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes- after they went four days without ever really sleeping, SVU had set up a system- everybody besides one person would sleep for four hours, then the unlucky detective, lawyer, psychiatrist, or ME woke up someone else to take their place at night. Unfortunately, they had so many false leads they had only been able to get two hours of sleep at night at any one time.

"Alex, no sleep does not serve you well. I'm talking about Alex Eames! You know, from Major Case? She, Goren, and Captain Deakins are tailing him, but he hasn't led them to Casey yet- come on, let's go!"

Everyone grabbed their service weapons and badges and practically ran out the door, heading to the squad cars. Elliot was faster than Olivia, and in the seconds he had before she caught up with him, he pulled out a picture of him and Casey.

It was of their six month anniversary, just a couple weeks ago. Elliot covered his side of the picture with his thumb so he could only see the beautiful redhead. Her bright smile and shining eyes reflected none of the horror she'd been through a year ago, proving to him and the world just how strong she was. In the picture, Olivia's word rang true- she would never give up, not ever. One of the differences between her and Alex was that Alex was always the cold, frigid, yet perfect soldier in the courtroom- passionate, yes, but neat and precise to the point of insanity.

Casey was a different brand of insanity, one that more appealed to his taste. She was fiery, her temper like an explosive when activated and her determination seemed to have a life of it's own. She looked invincible when she strutted around a perp, closing in on him with his own lies until he made a mistake, revealing the truth, and she called him out on it. Elliot loved everything about her- her smile, her laugh, her sarcasm, the anger when a judge denied a warrant and the sparkle in her eyes when she won a case. Her stubbornness was adorable and her determination was endearing.

Three years ago, if Casey had died he would have gone on living without ever knowing or caring. But now...

**October 8th, 3: 24 am.**

SVU and Major Case all convened in one small hotel room- a total of nine people, since Alex Eames and Bobby were on stakeout duty right now. About half an hour ago, Garcia's car had broken down, and he had booked a room at a hotel rather than just call AAA. MCS and SVU had ran into each in the lobby, and the two captains had decided they would book a room to settle their... differences while Alex and Bobby kept an eye on Garcia. Now it was eight against one, but Deakins wasn't backing down.

"For the last time, _no_!" Deakins exclaimed, pounding his fist on the table. "This is in my jurisdiction, and a kidnapping is not a playground for sex crimes police! You need to go back and work your own cases! My detectives do not need five untrained rookies running around out there, putting us all in danger!"

"Let's get one thing straight here- my detectives are not untrained rookies! Detective Stabler is an ex-marine, Detective Benson once worked for the feds, Detective Munch came from Homicide, and Detective Tutuola came from Narcotics! And either we involve ourselves in this investigation with your say so and our two squads share intel, or we don't and end up _killing_ each other because we don't know the other's there! If you want seven dead bodies because of a misfire, then that's what you'll get, because I am not backing out of this case!"

"Oh yes you are! From what I've been hearing, this doesn't involve just the two of us anymore- seems the feds miss seeing your Dr. Huang around their office, and The ME's office hasn't seen or heard anything about Dr. Warner in days! Not to mention the sudden collapse of the prosecution of white collar crimes- anything to do with Ms. Cabot's untrained assistant taking over while she plays sex crimes ADA/investigator? Oh, and don't even get me started on Brooklyn SVU's sudden complete failure for simple things like actually going home every once and a while!"

Cragen flinched at that, but kept right on going. "At least we're covering all our bases! What about you? You would have probably already made Casey into a cold case and moved on to fresher bodies if I hadn't given you a head up and the drug thefts! Hell, you wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for us! If you throw us out now, I swear to god I'll-"

"Fine! You wanna be a part of this investigation? Fine! But you all follow my orders, and I don't want you in the field unless we're breaking into the place he's got your ADA, because I'm pretty sure you'd involve yourself in that anyway- do I make myself clear? Because if I don't, you can just kiss this investigation goodbye!"

Under normal circumstances, Cragen would have told that idiot just who the hell he was talking to and exactly how and why he was screwed. But these weren't normal circumstances. "Crystal, Deakin."

"Oh, and one more thing- you leave the doctors and the lawyers out of this!" he exclaimed, looking pointedly at Alex, Huang, and Melinda.

Huang stepped forward, shaking his head fiercely. "Oh no no no, I don't think so! I'm not just Dr. Huang, I'm Agent Huang, FBI. I've got more training than you and if you want to throw a fed of this case, you'll have a lot more than just one of us on your hands."

"Agent Huang, eh? If you're licensed to carry, I don't see a problem. You know, other than the fact the SVU is shoving their ugly faces in my investigation. But what about the other ones? They doesn't have any excuse!"

Glowering at him, Melinda snapped coldly, "First of all, I was trained by the Airforce. Second of all, I'm not here to rush in with a gun, I'm here to interpret the EMT's medical jargon into English for the detectives when we find Casey and if she's hurt. Don't worry, I won't be in your way."

"And let's just say I'm your personal lawyer for the time being. Any warrants you need, I'll get," Alex added, but the cool edge to her voice made it clear this wasn't an offer, this was Alex telling them what she was going to do and that they better agree with it. Deakins cast them all another glare before turning to go give the news to his detectives. Immediately, SVU divided up into groups, all discussing in quiet voices what was going to happen and how they were going to respond when Alex and Bobby predictably resisted this new addition to their team, even if it was only temporary.

The hours passed slowly, no one getting any sleep until, finally, at 7am, Garcia left in a rental. SVU and MCS divided up into six squad cars to follow him, and they hadn't been driving long before he pulled up outside a warehouse. By the time the detectives had caught up with him, Garcia had disappeared.

"Cabot, Warner, I want both of you to stay in the car, no matter what happens. I don't care if you think one of us has been shot, you don't get out. You three are untrained civilians-" At their angry glares, he amended his statement. "Fine, maybe you're not untrained, but you are still civilians- civilians who honestly shouldn't be here at all. Agent Huang, this goes for you as well- if an FBI guy got shot in my operation, the red tape would be a mile long. Captain Cragen, you and your team are here to see to ADA Casey Novak, that's all. My team is going to be the one going in first. We will be arresting Garcia and taking him in. Only once I have given you the all the clear are you to enter the warehouse. Is that understood?"

Cragen gave Deakins a surly nod, then waited for Deakins to head over to his squad to murmur, "Alex, Huang, Melinda, I agree with him- you three are staying in the car. Melinda, I'll only call you out if Casey is hurt too badly to wait for an ambulance. You others, don't even think about coming inside. Detectives, with me. Let's go get our ADA back."

**October 8th, 12: 49 pm.**

Casey could barely see each blow pummel her exhausted body. Her vision was far too blurry, and she couldn't feel them anymore. She knew she was dying and she didn't care. "Mmm… yes, baby… yes!" Garcia shouted, but she didn't really hear his soft yells. She closed her eyes and prayed. _God or anybody who is listening, tell them all that I love them. George, Melinda, Alex, John, Fin, Olivia, Don, Elliot. Elliot especially. Tell them I don't blame them and that I didn't suffer. And please, please, please tell them that I love them._

She was about to try and relax for her last few hours when she heard something slam, followed by the shout of, "Police! Freeze!" The blows did not stop, and her dizziness did not abate.

"Goodbye," she whispered. Then she was gone.

Bobby Goren whipped out his gun as Garcia saw them coming and raised a knife to the ADA's throat. He fired just once- it was enough. Garcia collapsed against the wall, already dead before he hit the ground.

Alex practically shouted into her walkie-talkie, "SVU, come on! It's your girl, and she's alive! Barely, though- hurry."

Moments later, SVU burst into the basement, guns raised as they searched for Garcia and Casey. Elliot skidded to a stop when he finally saw her, horror spreading through his veins like ice.

She was dressed in a revealing tank top and unbelievably short shorts, an outfit that Casey would never so much as own- wearing it was out of the question. Unfortunately, it was her clothing- or lack there of- that allowed him to truly see her broken body, hanging limply from the wall by handcuffs, her skin pale as death and covered with dark bruises and cuts. Her wrists were rubbed raw by the metal cuffs, trails of blood leaking from the wounds, and her left arm looked horribly disfigured, the bone twisting in a painful looking way underneath the skin.

Casey's swollen eyes were closed, and, despite her injuries, she was beautiful to Elliot. She would always be beautiful.

But right now, she was dying.

Olivia reached her first; she frantically started trying to pick the handcuffs, murmuring, "It's okay, Casey, it's okay, come on, hang in there," as she worked. Finally, the ADA fell into Elliot's arms, and he lifted her up as easily as if she weighed nothing at all.

And then nothing mattered. It did not matter that she had been beaten within an inch of her life. It did not matter that she might have been raped. It did not matter that she was, quite possibly, going to die. All that mattered was the beautiful feeling of her pulse under his fingers and her cold body in his arms. She was alive. They were together and she was alive.

He felt people trying to take Casey away from him but he resisted, pulling her back and holding her against his chest, refusing to let go. "Elliot?" A voice called gently. He knew that voice. "Elliot?" Olivia asked again. "Come on, Casey needs a doctor, El, come on." He shook his head, but as he felt her arms sliding around Casey's body and beginning to take her from him, he didn't resist. Soon, he was no longer touching Casey, but he hurried back to Olivia's side as she carried the unconscious ADA to a bed in the corner and gently lay her down, yelling, "_Melinda_!"

The ME rushed down the stairs to Casey's side as Fin practically shouted, "This is Detective Tutuola, we need a bus down on 615 North Avenue..." Alex and Bobby started securing the crime scene as Elliot grabbed Casey's hand, keeping his thumb on her wrist so he could always feel her pulse.

Yes, she was alive.

For now.

Coming up next: The answer to whether Casey lives or dies and Elliot has a revelation.


	8. Chapter 8

Okay, I'm sorry, this is just a complete failure of a chapter. I'll explain why at the end.

**Chapter 8**

Cragen surveyed the battered legion of his family the ER's waiting room, shuddering slightly. Melinda and Huang were sequestered in a corner, discussing the ADA's condition in low voices, clearly arguing over some point or another. Fin was sitting in a chair not far from them, staring blankly at the wall, his gaze dead, while Munch sat besides him, tapping his finger incessantly on his gun. Alex was leaning her head on Olivia's shoulder, letting the detective stroke her hair and murmur comfortingly in her ear, but it was clear Olivia was just as scared as the rest.

Elliot paced throughout the room, sweating and breathing fast, eyes wide with panic. His footsteps were almost silent, but as Don watched him, he knew how close the detective was to smashing his fist into a wall, as was his custom whenever he was furious.

But now he wasn't just furious. Now he was scared- because everyone in his family was here... except for one.

No one was saying anything- no one wanted to break the nervous silence, and, after all, there wasn't nothing to say. As of now, they only cared for the one that was missing. Any words would be pointless, because the only people who knew if she was alive or dead were the doctors working to save her life in the ER. Elliot had begged the nurse to let him go back there, but since Casey and Elliot weren't married, the nurse had refused.

"Excuse me? Detectives?" Everybody at SVU looked up at the soft voice of Alex Eames, who was standing hesitantly in the doorway. "I just came to tell you Garcia is officially dead. My partner shot him in the head- he never had a chance."

Don knew his detectives were still too worried about Casey to express their explicit gratitude, so he did it for them. "Thank you, Detective Eames. You and your partner had done the world a great service."

"It's Alex, and it was truly no trouble. I'll give Bobby your thanks, although some people just don't deserve to live... I hope your ADA pulls through. From what I hear about her, she's a good person." Alex patted him awkwardly on the back, then left- she did not belong in SVU's sorrow right now, and to pretend she did would just be an insult to the detectives. Now, all they could do was wait.

The minutes ticked by slowly until the hour hand reached the five. Five hours. Five hours and still no word. All they knew was that Casey was alive- if she was otherwise, the doctors would have told them.

Six o'clock. Still nothing.

Seven o'clock. Nothing.

Eight o'clock.

It was at 9:03 pm when an exhausted doctor finally exited the ER and walked over to them, holding a file in his hands. "Detectives?" he asked wearily.

Elliot rushed forward, staring at him in panic. "How is she?"

"Ms. Novak is alive, but the next few hours are critical. She's in a coma, and her chances of waking up are about 75%, while her chances of survival are 90%. I understand she was held captive for around nine and a half days?" At Olivia's answering nod, he continued, "My best guess is she was denied food for her entire captivity. She weighs just over a hundred pounds and her glucose levels were almost non-existent. We have her on IV fluids and nutrients to get her strength back up. While her blood tests haven't come back yet, isn't it true that there were drugs found at the scene?"

"Yes," Melinda said quickly. "Massive stashes of benzodiapanes. We have reason to believe they were injected into Casey."

"Well, in all my years in the ER, I've never seen such a sad case as this one. Her symptoms indicate that you are correct, Ms. Novak was injected repeatedly with doses of benzodiapanes over the last ten days. While she didn't overdose, so much drugs in such a short amount of time almost stressed her into liver failure. We put her on Interferon to protect the liver, but as long as she stay stable, she shouldn't need a transplant. Her X-Rays and CT scan revealed a severe concussion, seven broken ribs, a compound fracture in her left arm, and her left wrist was shattered. It could take months of physical therapy before she regains full use of her hand. We've also started her on a course of Levafloxisin- a preventative measure, to protect against infection, since we don't know how long her left arm was exposed to air. "

Elliot could barely breathe. Just yesterday, he had no idea if he would ever see his Casey alive again. Now she was alive and he knew she wouldn't die... well, that 10% chance that she would die- but Casey was strong. While he wouldn't rest until she opened her eyes, Elliot knew she would be okay. But what Alex asked next made his blood run cold. "Was she... Was she raped?"

"Given the history between her and her kidnapper, we ran a rape kit once we had stabilized her. No penetration- in fact, no signs of sexual trauma whatsoever. She's in the clear."

At once, the somber aura over the squad lifted as wide yet exhausted smiles spread across their faces. Casey was alive. It had been close- far too close- but she was alive. Olivia put an arm around both Alex and Elliot's shoulders while Fin finally let out the breath he'd been holding, a Munch's characteristic smirk was replaced by a genuine grin. Melinda and Huang embraced as Don watched his family finally rise out of the dark abyss Garcia had shoved them all into when he took Casey. Their sister, his daughter... was back.

"Can we see her now?" Olivia exclaimed just as the doctor was about to walk away.

"Yes," he said with a nod. "Room 203. She's still unconscious, though, and I don't expect her to wake up for at least a day. And only two at a time, and since she's still in critical condition, I can't have anybody staying the night." At Elliot's glowering look and his hulking form, he quickly abated, "But, of course, I can make an exception for you."

SVU made their way to Casey's room then stopped, all looking expectantly at Elliot. He weakly nodded his thanks then stepped inside, took a deep breath, then raised his eyes to Casey.

The redhead was sleeping peacefully, dark bruises and cuts covering her face. Her left arm was wrapped in bandages from above the elbow to wrist, the tips of her fingers barely visible through the gauze. Red tendrils of her hair swirled across the cast like so many red snakes, caked with dried blood and clinging limply to her motionless form. However, even under the blankets, he could tell how small she was, and he had a horrible flashback to last year, after three months of practically starving herself.

But even then she hadn't been so thin.

Elliot wanted to take her deathly pale, frigid hand and warm it with his fingers, hold it tightly, kiss it- but he was too afraid to touch her. She looked so fragile, like she would break if he touched her.

Olivia entered next, walking slowly forward, her face contorting as she saw Casey. Her eyes shone with unshed tears as she reached forward hesitantly, slowly taking Casey's hand in her own. "I told you," she choked out weakly after a moment. "I told you she'd hang on until we found her."

"Yeah," he whispered, gently stroking the ADA's hair. "You did. My Casey... she made it."

"You really love her, don't you?" Olivia asked, looking up at him for the first time. He nodded, not willing to take his eyes off Casey, not after he almost lost her. He wanted to see her and never look away. "Throughout this whole thing, I could only guess at what you were going through... but when I imagined the same thing happening to Alex, I... I had an inkling. I love Casey too, El, and even though she'll never be the same... she's still Casey. Still the same woman you love."

"Olivia... after this happened, I realized something. You need to realize it, too- don't let Alex get away. I've seen you two together. If there was any such thing of a match made in heaven... ask her to marry you, Olivia. Don't wait until it's too late, and she gets killed in a car accident or, worse, dies in something like... what almost happened to Casey. Then you can never tell the world that's she was yours, that she was your wife."

Olivia watched him expressionlessly, then asked quietly, "Elliot... are you going to ask Casey?" He didn't reply, but by the way he was watching the slumbering ADA, she could only assume that he was going to propose to Casey. "Good luck," she said simply.

Everyone at SVU displayed their emotions in a different way. Munch, for one, actually proved that he had emotions, something that had been the source of many debates in the squad room. Fin showed a rare display of kindness and Don even cracked a smile. Alex, always the ice queen, actually shed a tear. But when he was finally alone with her again, Elliot whispered, "I don't know if you can hear me, Casey, but I love you. It took me a while to realize it and I'm sorry, I shouldn't have kept someone as precious as you waiting. I am in love with you, Casey Novak. If you want, I will forever be yours, and even if you don't want me, I'll still love you. Please, please wake up, Casey. I want you to marry me, so please, you have to wake up." He kissed her lightly on the forehead, closing his eyes against the burning tears.

Coming up next: Olivia proposes to Alex and Casey wakes up.. And yes, I just played one of the most cheesiest, cliché' romantic lines in the history of cheesy cliché' romantic lines and I'm sorry, the reason this chapter is so bad is because I wrote it while I was sick. And I don't mean I was sneezing and coughing, I mean 103 degree fever can't keep food down sick. Don't ask me why I was writing when I was that sick, I honestly have no idea. This is also where I worked Cabenson into the story, which is why there's barely any mention of it in previous chapters.


	9. Chapter 9

Sorry this took so long, I was practicing for an audition and exams are this week and now we have a snow day tomorrow, so it doesn't matter if I study or not.

**Chapter 9**

"Hey, honey," Olivia said as she walked into the apartment she and Alex shared, kissing her girlfriend on the cheek. "How was work?"

Alex laughed as she turned off the TV, reclining on the couch and closing her eyes. "Compared to these last two weeks, pure heaven. I did white collar. Just white collar. Investment frauds and embezzling and mortgage scams... no murder or violence or rape. I never imagined I would find eight solid hours of paperwork enjoyable, but today... wow. How was your day?"

"Same as yours," she said as sat down across from Alex, stretching her aching muscles. "Just sex crimes. No kidnapping cases, nothing personal about anything, just plain old sex crimes. Well, not that sex crimes are ever normal... you know what I mean."

"Yeah." Three days after they had rescued Casey, the doctor had told them that she would definitely survive, and her chances of waking up had gone to 95%. Another day of waiting for her to regain consciousness, then Cragen had demanded they all return to work except for Elliot. He was still with her, refusing to leave her side until she woke up.

Alex smiled slightly, then sat up, her eyes twinkling. "You know, we haven't seen too much of each other these past two weeks... I've missed you. But I think I know how to make it all better."

The ADA pulled Olivia in for a deep kiss as she got slowly to her feet, then broke it as she started pulling the detective to the bedroom. "Wait, Alex, not now," Olivia said reluctantly, grabbing her hand. "There's something I want to talk about first."

Alex frowned but nodded, stepping back from their embrace and gesturing for her to continue. "Alex, when I was at the hospital- when I went to see Casey, I mean... Elliot said, more or less, that I should think about us. Think about if you were really were the one. Because what almost happened to him... he realized it could happen to us, too. He says I should marry you, before it's too late."

She paused, then gave her a small, hesitant smile as she said, "Wow. I didn't know Elliot was so interested in the two of us..."

It was completely silent when Olivia breathed, "I want to marry you, Alex." The blond's blue eyes bored into her own as Olivia waited for her response, so nervous she thought she might throw up.

Alex didn't say anything for one long moment, then threw herself at Olivia, assaulting her mouth. This time, the detective didn't resist as Alex led her back to the bedroom.

SVUSVUSVU

Casey woke up, but didn't open her eyes. She didn't want to see the dark basement again. Didn't want to see Garcia's leering grin, the syringe as he prepared to inject her with poison, his fists as he prepared to hit her.

But she was in more pain then before. Why? If she was dying, shouldn't it hurt less? Casey decided she didn't like dying like this. She wanted to die quickly or in her sleep. Why couldn't Garcia just kill her and be done with it?

Wait. There were sounds here. Beeps and soft voices and footsteps. That wasn't the basement. Where was she?

It took nearly all if Casey's strength to open her eyes, and the effort exhausted her. But what she saw was enough to keep her awake.

She was not in the basement. She was in a hospital room. A hospital room with lights and no handcuffs and no poisons and no people trying to hurt her and lovely painkillers that stopped her from feeling pain. A hospital room with Elliot.

The detective was sitting next to her and holding her hand, his eyes closed. It took her a second to realize he was asleep. Casey smiled slightly and squeezed his hand, marveling at how peaceful and just plain adorable he looked while sleeping.

Elliot felt her grip his hand and his eyes fluttered open. He looked around the room for a moment before his gaze settled on Casey, a wide, amazed smile tugging at his lips. "Casey," he breathed. "You're awake."

"Hey..." It was hard for her to talk, even that small exertion making her want to close her eye and sleep again. "You found me... you saved me..." she whispered, staring up at him in confusion. "How?"

"You honestly think I wouldn't stop looking for you until I found you?" Elliot smiled at her and ran his hand through her hair- but gently, barely even touching her skin. Casey frowned, wanting to ask him what was wrong, but she was slightly dizzy, so she kept silent. "How much do you remember?"

She swallowed nervously, suddenly frightened. "... Everything."

Elliot watched her, his expression so sad it broke Casey's heart. "I'm so sorry, Casey. I'm so sorry I let him hurt you again, that I wasn't there to protect you- he won't hurt you again, though. Garcia is dead. Alex shot him."

"Alex?" she asked weakly, trying to form a coherent sentence but still too tired. "Alex? Shoot?"

"Oh," Elliot said with a laugh. "Not Cabot. Eames. From Major Case- long story. Too long to tell now. I want you to get some rest. You need sleep right now, and I don't want to overwhelm you- it's really complicated..."

"Uh-uh. No sleep. Don't want."

Elliot kissed her hand, but his eyes never left her own. "Right, I'm sorry... Huang said you would have some trouble sleeping- I'll get your nurse." He pressed her call button and, seconds later, a short brunette in scrubs walked in.

"What can I do for you, Detect- oh, Ms. Novak, you're awake."

Elliot nodded as he said, "Yeah, um, Janie- do you think you could give her something to help her sleep? Just for tonight?"

Casey started to protest but Janie nodded, smiling sweetly at her. "Of course. I'll be right back." Elliot barely even looked at her, still keeping his eyes on Casey. She wanted to argue, but didn't think she can manage to keep talking for that long.

Janie returned bearing a syringe, still smiling. "Here you go, Ms. Novak. You'll be out in no time, and it-"

"No!" she exclaimed, pulling her arm from Janie's grasp. "No needles! No drugs! I don't want it! No, stop!" Casey pulled her knees up to her chest and rolled away from the nurse, shaking her head when Elliot tried to touch her shoulder. "No!" She shouted again, keeping her arms out of his reach. "No no no no no!"

Elliot stared at her in a panic, but when he realized what had so scared, he immediately waved the nurse away and got around to the other side of the bed, trying to make the ADA look at him. "Casey, Casey, listen to me- she's not going to hurt you, that was just something to help you sleep, it wasn't going to paralyze you or hurt you or anything, I promise, sweetie, I promise!"

It took several long, painful minutes of coaxing for Casey to finally unfurl from the tight ball, but she still turned away and refused to look at him. "Case, come on, talk to me," he begged, wanting to touch her but not sure if it would scare her or not. Casey shook her head again, closing her eyes and hiding her face with her good hand, the other still trapped in its cast.

When she still wouldn't even look at him, Elliot had to make do with gently stroking her hair, waiting patiently for her to calm down. He couldn't leave her. Not now, not ever. Even if all he could do now was hold her and comfort her as best he could. Though he had absolutely no idea what she was going through or what the coming months and years would bring, he did know that he would never leave her. He had no choice. The love he felt for her was... indescribable. He had never felt this way about anyone before.

Elliot had never believed all that soul mate stuff, to be honest. All that 'it's like we were meant to be together,' or 'I love her more than life itself,' had always sounded foreign to him, ridiculous, even. He had loved Kathy, yes- actually, he still did- but now he was starting to wonder if he had ever been _in_ love with her.

Because he was in love with Casey Novak.

Casey had taught him so much... with his childhood, Elliot had never really known what a home was. He had a gotten a taste of that with Kathy... no, more than a taste, she had given him a family. But with Casey- well, it was different. For some reason he couldn't understand, this beautiful, successful, amazing young woman loved him. He desperately wanted to take her hand, slide a ring on her finger, and show their relationship off to the world. He wanted to be able to say, 'This is my _wife._ Not my sister, not my girlfriend, but my _wife_.'

That would have to wait, until she was out for the hospital. He didn't want her to have to deal with even more than she was now. So, he was content to just remain her boyfriend... for a while. But, as soon as possible, he hoped to make her his fiancé'.

And then his wife.

Coming up next: Elliot's proposal to Casey and her answer. Final chapter. And when I wrote this I was still sick, and I really didn't know who I wanted to propose, Alex or Olivia, so I kinda made them both do it in a failed attempt to be romantic. When I read it again, it was so horrible I rewrote the scene entirely. It still kinda sucks, but meh.


	10. Chapter 10

Final chapter! And since this is probably my last post until the next year, early Merry Christmas! Also, to Mizuno-kun: read this chapter! See the straight pairing and proposal! Tell me again that Casey is a lesbian and I will shoot you! (Everybody else: yeah, I know Mizuno-kun in real life, she thought Casey was a lesbian for these two stories, don't ask me how)

**Chapter 10**

The days until Casey's release from the hospital passed slowly. The routine that was now her life was excruciatingly dull- nurses, Elliot, doctors, Elliot, tests, Elliot, sleep, then let's repeat it all over again. She didn't even get to eat anything- her doctor said he didn't want her to eat more than her body could handle, so they were feeding her intravenously.

So far, the only remotely good piece of news she had heard was that of Alex and Olivia's engagement. They were a good couple; Casey had been wondering if they were ever going to tie the knot. When they had came to tell her, they had both been so radiant it even made Casey happy for the rest of the day. But when she had once again been denied anything of substance, that feeling had vanished.

But today was the day she was finally being released, which meant coffee, real food, clothes and a bed of her own, people not monitoring her 24/7... Elliot had said she was going to stay with him, no questions asked, and she was actually grateful. Casey wasn't sure she would ever be able to be alone in her apartment again, and besides, the prospect of staying with _Elliot _was comforting. Despite his overprotective nature...

SVUSVUSVU

"For the last time, _no_, Casey. You don't need help me clean, you don't need to pay for pizza, you don't need to cook since god knows you can't, and you don't need to try and make my life easier in any other way. I am taking care of you here, remember?"

"First of all," she said with a smirk, "I resent your comments about my cooking. Last time you cooked something, I believe it was me who ended up in the ER with food poisoning. And I don't need anyone taking care of me! I'm just doing this to placate you!"

Elliot laughed and gave her a gentle kiss before saying, "Well, as long as you're placating me, why don't you just lay down like a good girl while I take care of everything? Please, Casey? I'm begging you here."

"Fine," she said after a moment. "I'll play nice. But you're in for it the moment I get out of this stupid cast! I know my softball bat's around here somewhere..."

Chuckling, Elliot kissed her again before going to call for takeout. It was true, the first and only time he had tried to cook for them, Casey had wound up with food poisoning. But when she had tried to cook on their one month anniversary, Casey's neighbors had all been woken up at midnight by the fire department. Casey blamed her lack of culinary skills on years of law school, claming that the endless months spent studying boring shit late into the night had ruined her taste for anything but takeout. Elliot, who had been married for ten years, had no excuse.

"All right, all right, down girl," he gasped when Casey started kissing him again. "I promised the squad I'd take care of you, so don't make me play the cop card, Casey, because I will."

Her grin faltered for a moment before she smiled back up at him, her voice just a little too happy and carefree. "Cop card? What exactly does that entail?" she asked, her eyes widening with fake innocence as she gently ran her hand along his cheek.

"Not what you're thinking. Lay down and stop turning me on, I think the pizza guy is having an orgasm."

Casey groaned crossly as she got back down on the couch, muttering, "Stupid teenage pizza guy with no life." Elliot smiled at her as he finished their order, then let his phone drop to the floor as he went to go find Casey's painkillers.

After several unsuccessful attempts to hide them under her tongue, Casey had taken to hiding the pill bottles throughout his apartment. Unfortunately, she was rather good at this, and Elliot had spent nearly an hour this morning searching for them. She maintained that she was fine and that a little discomfort was nothing, but Elliot had refused to leave her alone until she took them. Casey had managed to hold out for almost 15 minutes, but after only thirty seconds of tickling her knee, she had given in almost immediately and took the pills through tears of laughter. It had been good to see her laugh. He had missed that sound very much over the past two weeks.

"You'll never find them!" she called, and he could hear how much this pleased her in her voice.

"Oh, yes I will!" he shouted back. "There were three bottles! You can't hide them that easily! If you want, I'll tickle you until you tell me where you hid them!" Casey didn't respond, but he knew he could get the answer out of her, even if he had to drag it kicking and screaming. "I'll take that as a yes- but I won't be bested by a lawyer!"

Ten minutes later, after the pizza had arrived and he had still had no luck finding the painkillers, Elliot actually did give up and had to tickle the answer out of her. However, Casey would never forget it and would always use it as a reason why lawyers were better than cops.

He knew the next few months- hell, probably the next few years- were going to be extremely hard. He also knew that it didn't matter. Because right here, right now- this was the Casey he loved. And no matter how hard her recovery was, Elliot would know that Casey was still in there somewhere, and he would stay for her. He would stay and never let her go.

All that 'love at first sight stuff' wasn't really true. He remembered when he first saw Casey- intruding into their crime scene, a pain in the ass, replacing Alex- how dare she? Assuming she knew more about their jobs then the detective's themselves, taking their best friend's place, just trying to butt her way in there like a little bitch… yeah, he had pretty much hated her. Somehow, he had gone from a mild dislike of the redhead attorney to loving the blond ADA like a little sister, and now she was back to redhead, and he loved her like his wife. He wanted to make her his wife and tell her that it was all going to be all right, to soothe her when nightmares sent her screaming back to reality, to hold her when she was crying or upset. Unlike with Kathy, he had no doubts about their relationship. He knew that he and Casey would never get a divorce. He loved her and knew she loved him.

Smiling slightly, Elliot fingered the ring in his pocket as he looked back at Casey. He had wanted to wait until the moment was right, but... why wait when you know?

"Casey, I... I wanted to make this more romantic, but I can't wait any longer." The ADA looked up at him, confused, and was about what he was talking about when he got down on one knee before her and pulled the diamond out of his pocket, holding it up to her. A beautiful, amazed smile began to spread across her lips as he asked, more nervous then even when he had proposed to Kathy, "Casey Elizabeth Novak, will you marry me?"

She stared at him for one, long moment, then threw herself into his arms, smothering her lips against his.

SVUSVUSVU

"Detective? ADA Novak? What are you two doing here? You have three months of medical leave, Casey, I suggest that you take it." Cragen said sharply, then gave her a fond smile as the rest of SVU waited for her answer.

Elliot and Casey shared a smile, then Casey held up her hand with the ring and squealed, "I'm getting married!"

El finis!


End file.
